ArticleCerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)2021
First Demonstration of Double Dissociation between COMT-Met158 and COMT-Val158 Cognitive Performance When Stressed and When Calmer.
Article in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between genes and reflexive attention.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of acute stress on executive function in children: Moderation by parasympathetic nervous system activity.Journal of experimental child psychology · 2026Article
- Influence of National Traumatic Events on Inattention and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Symptoms in Young Adults With and Without ADHD.Journal of attention disorders · 2025Article
- Biopsychology Lab: COMT Genotype Associations with Vagal Tone and Frontal Alpha Asymmetry.Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Impact of stress on excitatory and inhibitory markers of adolescent cognitive critical period plasticity.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
- The Insidious Influence of Stress: An Integrated Model of Stress, Executive Control, and Psychopathology.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2023Article
- Recognition of Emotional and Neutral Visual Scenes in Carriers of the MAOA, COMT, DRD4, and 5HT2A Gene Polymorphisms.Psychology in Russia : state of the art · 2022Article
- NMDAR Neurotransmission Needed for Persistent Neuronal Firing: Potential Roles in Mental Disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
We present here the first evidence of the much-predicted double dissociation between the effect of stress on cognitive skills [executive functions (EFs)] dependent on prefrontal cortex (PFC) by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype. The COMT gene polymorphism with methionine (Met) at codon 158 results in more dopamine (DA) in PFC and generally better EFs, while with valine (Val) at codon 158 the result is less PFC DA and generally poorer EFs. Many have predicted that mild stress, by raising PFC DA levels should aid EFs of COMT-Vals (bringing their PFC DA levels up, closer to optimal) and impair EFs of COMT-Mets (raising their PFC DA levels past optimal). We tested 140 men and women in a within-subject crossover design using extremely mild social evaluative stress. On trials requiring EFs (incongruent trials) of the Flanker/Reverse Flanker task, COMT-Val158 homozygotes performed better when mildly stressed than when calmer, while COMT-Met158 carriers performed worse when mildly stressed. Two other teams previously tried to obtain this, but only found stress impairing EFs of COMT-Mets, not improving EFs of COMT-Vals. Perhaps we found both because we used a much milder stressor. Evidently, the bandwidth for stress having a facilitative effect on EFs is exceedingly narrow.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.